Chapter 42: Priscilla Barielle's 'I' Banzai (Patreon)

"Who, me?"

Subaru Natsuki pointed at himself, totally baffled.

I mean, I just wasn't bowled over by your beauty. Is that really worth all this hostility, threatening to gouge out my eyeballs at the drop of a hat?

"Seriously, that's way too domineering. You're the polar opposite of Emilia! Please, tone it down. Next to you, Emilia's practically an angel! Emilia-chan, Emilia-tan, number one in the world, meow!"

Emilia lowered her head shyly and fidgeted, embarrassed, then pressed her lips together in a tiny smile.

She had no idea what an "angel" was, and "Emilia-chan" and "Emilia-tan" were strange nicknames she'd never heard before. Still, being praised by the shopkeeper, and sincerely called better than Priscilla Barielle, made her super-duper happy!

Not that she thought she was better than Priscilla Barielle, and she didn't want to put anyone down to lift herself up. But it didn't seem like a good moment to chime in. It felt almost impossible to get a word in.

"That's twice now, mortal."

Priscilla Barielle snapped her fan shut, chin raised, brows arched. "My virtue is that I allow even insects to approach the sun without being scorched. But should an ant grow arrogant and foolishly try to set other stars against me, my flames will find their use."

"Okay, I admit you're gorgeous. Even Cru-Cru and Anna aren't in the same league as you when it comes to [Mature Charm]... But whether I get bowled over isn't exactly up to me, is it? You've got to consider what my heart wants. Maybe I've already met a good girl who's even more charming than you?"

Subaru Natsuki let out a long sigh. Body-wise, Priscilla Barielle was hands-down the one with the biggest chest and the biggest butt. No point in denying it.

But he wasn't a guy who'd never seen a woman before, and he wasn't the type to rush to curry favor the moment he saw a pretty girl.

Not to mention the fleeting glimpse he'd caught when he woke up this morning: the good girl draped in white cloth.

She was hopelessly blurry. To this day he didn't know what she really looked like, or whether he'd dreamed her up or she truly existed.

But even blurry, she still made his heart ache with longing. How to put it... He didn't think he was the love-at-first-sight type, yet for that one good girl draped in white, his heart was still racing.

If possible, he hoped he'd fall asleep tonight and really dream of her again. He wanted so badly to see her face clearly.

"Hmph... I see. In that case, I shall spare you for now, you poor jester. How pitiful, drowning in a world of your own fantasy. Escape, illusion, error... So pitiful that even my radiance cannot wake you, cannot make you rightly perceive my peerless beauty. Truly pitiable. Such being the case, even I am moved to compassion. Ah, what a pitiful mortal."

After Subaru Natsuki's rebuttal-by-example, Priscilla Barielle's pupils softened into boundless pity, the very picture of a ruler mourning for the world.

The look she gave him changed from the one reserved for fools into something that plainly said: [You are too, too foolish, so foolish that you're beyond saving, so beyond saving that you're pitiful, and so I can do nothing but pity you].

Subaru Natsuki was truly speechless. I'm begging you, could you please not be so narcissistic?

"Just you wait, you fool. The fool here is you! Take back that pitying look. I'll prove it. The girl who'd crush you in every possible way is real!"

He was going to prove that the good girl draped in white wasn't a figment of his imagination. Not to show how great he was, but simply to win this round.

He'd make Priscilla Barielle take back all of that contempt and pity aimed at him, every last bit!

"Is that so? If she exists, then lead her before me, or draw her for me. Well? Can you do neither? Pitiful. I know full well how dazzling the sun is, yet even I cannot wake you. This is the first time I have learned that there are things even I cannot do."

Priscilla Barielle chuckled and shook her head slightly. She seemed genuinely amused that the first thing she was powerless against turned out to be something like this, and there wasn't a trace of anger or irritation left in her.

"Even if you told me to draw her, someone at your level can barely capture anyone's spirit, let alone hers..."

Subaru Natsuki went numb. He really couldn't do it.

Worse, his words had been an open attempt to trample her while praising the girl in white, declaring that she'd crush Priscilla Barielle. To the latter's ears, though, they became [Since no woman more beautiful than I exists, this is sincere flattery of my beauty], and that only made her even less angry.

Narcissist.

And a narcissist of extremely high purity, at that!

Subaru Natsuki's gaze sharpened. Fine if he weren't going to be king, but he wanted to be king, and if he got crushed one-sidedly by a narcissist like this, he was finished.

He had to hit back, viciously!

At the very least it had to be a real exchange of blows. And what angered and offended him most was that Priscilla Barielle was slandering his good girl draped in white!

Even after only a fleeting glimpse, he could say for certain that Priscilla Barielle couldn't compare to so much as a single strand of that girl's hair!

Subaru Natsuki huffed. "Hmph. Since I've got no proof yet, I won't say any more. You'd just keep on being narcissistic anyway."

"Overruled," Priscilla Barielle said lazily, waving her fan as she corrected him.

"I was born a king. From birth I have stood at the sole summit, a peak none can reach. However great the heroes and champions in the eyes of worldly mortals, before me they are but stars. Only I illuminate the ages."

"Without my existence, one can hardly imagine what eternal night this world would suffer. Were I not born, the ages would be one long night. Even the heavens had no say in my arrival. I wished to be born into this world, and so here I am."

"All things return to me. All things dwell beneath me. Even the entire world, even the sky that seems fathomless and out of reach to mortal eyes, and everything above that sky."

"All of it, from the moment of its birth until now, has been mere preparation. It exists to cheer for my present existence, to serve as my stage, so that this world does not grow too dull, so that it may please me and keep me amused."

"Naturally, that includes you. Mortal, your delusion, your fantasy, this most clownish of fevers, is truly the finest entertainment to win a smile from me. So be proud and take pride in it: you are the jester who stands above all other jesters!"